Contrary to popular wisdom, you don’t have to be an ace electrician, a coding prodigy, or a mechanical master to come up with a game-changing invention! You just need curiosity, a strong desire to fix a problem that you see in the world, and the determination to see your ideas become reality—and this book, which will teach you everything you need to go from zero to inventor.

A compelling, often hilarious and occasionally horrifying exploration of how modern medicine came to be!

Wondering whether eating powdered mummies might be just the thing to cure your ills? Tempted by those vintage ads suggesting you wear radioactive underpants for virility? Ever considered drilling a hole in your head to deal with those pesky headaches? Probably not. But for thousands of years, people have done things like this—and things that make radioactive underpants seem downright sensible! In their hit podcast, Sawbones, Sydnee and Justin McElroy breakdown the weird and wonderful way we got to modern healthcare. And some of the terrifying detours along the way.